In a meeting in New York City on this date in 1894, the United States Golf Association was born with five charter member clubs. They were Chicago Golf Club; Newport Golf Club in Rhode Island; St. Andrew's Golf Club near New York City, Shinnecock Hills Golf Club near Southampton, Long Island, and The Country Club near Boston in Brookline, Massachusetts.
On this date in 1996, the Lexus Challenge ended at La Quinta Resort, with Hale Irwin and actor Sean Connery winning at 21 under par. Arnold Palmer and actor Chris O’Donnell shot 68-64—132, to tie for 8th in the team event. Also, the great showman Walter Hagen, winner of 11 majors including five PGAs, was born on this date in Rochester, New York in 1892.
On this date in 1954, Arnold Palmer married Winifred Walzer in Virginia. She was the woman he’d met on a Monday and proposed to on a Friday in September 1954, within a couple weeks of winning the U.S. Amateur, and would be the mother of his two daughters. Also, an LPGA Tour member, Hannah Green, the 2019 PGA champion, was born on this date in 1996 in Perth, located in Western Australia.
On this date in 1976, Arnold Palmer wrapped up a tournament partnership in the Pepsi-Cola Mixed Team Championship with scores of 73-73-67-71—284 at Doral in Miami, Florida, for a tie for seventh and $2,016.67. His partner? Sandra Palmer. The two weren’t related but had to field questions about being kin and siblings and had fun pairing up in the event. The winners were JoAnn Washam & Chi Chi Rodriguez with 275. The format had the team members tee off from corresponding tees for their normal course length, pick the drive they wanted for best strategy, then play alternate shot from there.
Bobby Jones, the great amateur champion, Grand Slam winner and president in perpetuity of Augusta National, home of the Masters Tournament, died on this date in 1971 at age 69 of the crippling disease syringomyelia. And on this date in 1983, Arnold Palmer and Laura Baugh Cole shot a final-round 71 at Monte Carlo Country Club in Fort Pierce, Florida, for a four-round total of 281 and tie for sixth place behind the winners Bobby Clampett and Betsy King at the World Mixed Championship, Dec. 15-18. Arnie and Laura had 145-65-71—281.
The third James Bond movie, “Goldfinger,” premiered on this date in 1964 in London. Starring Sean Connery as the secret agent Bond, the movie has a memorable golf scene between Bond and the villain Auric Goldfinger, in which Bond memorably foils Goldfinger and his caddie, Oddjob, from trying to cheat with some duplicity of his own. Also a lasting impression: Bond caddie Hawker uttering about Goldfinger’s “found” ball in the rough, “If that’s his original ball I’m Arnold Palmer.” Also, Gus Andreone, at 103, became the oldest golfer to make a hole-in-one on this date in 2014 on the 113-yard No. 14 hole at Palm Aire C.C., Lakes Course, Palm Aire, Sarasota, Florida, using a driver. Gus was a member of the PGA and made eight holes-in-one, the first coming in 1939. He died in October 2018 at age 107.
On this date in 2012, Arnold Palmer played for the final time in a PGA Tour-associated event when he and grandson Will Wears shot a second-round 76 for 156 to finish 18th in the PNC Father-Son Challenge at Grande Lakes Resort/Ritz-Carlton Golf Club (72, 7,023), in Orlando, Florida. It was his only tour-related event in 2012 and brought to an end a pro career that began in December 1954 with the Miami Open. The PNC winners were Davis Love III-Dru Love, 60-61—121. Also, 2008 Masters winner Trevor Immelman, now doing most notably TV commentary, was born on this date in Cape Town, South Africa, in 1979.
On this date in 1949, Julius Boros turned professional and went on to compile a hall-of-fame career winning two U.S. Opens and a PGA Championship. Also, the United States won half of the 12 final-, third-day singles matches in the 2019 Presidents Cup at Royal Melbourne Golf Club, helping the U.S. edge the International team, 16-14.
On this date in 1975, Jane Blalock won the LPGA Colgate Triple Crown at Mission Hills Country Club in Palm Springs, California, taking home $15,000. Also, the 1931 U.S. Open champion, Billy Burke, was born on this date in Naugatuck, Connecticut, one of the “valley towns” northwest of New Haven, in 1902, which made him a contemporary of Bobby Jones and Gene Sarazen, also born that year.
On this date in 1956, Arnold Palmer shot a first-round 66 in the Mayfair Inn Open. He would shoot additional rounds of 68-67-71 for 272 and tie for seventh behind winner Mike Fetchick, who shot a record score of 263. And on this date in 1998, the International team broke through in the Presidents Cup with a victory at Royal Melbourne Golf Club over the U.S., 20.5 to 11.5.
This is the date in 1899 that is traditionally observed as the day George Bryant of Boston patented the wooden golf tee. And one of the LPGA Tour’s stars of yesteryear, Shirley Englehorn, was born on this date in 1940 in Caldwell, Idaho. On tour from 1959 to 1979, Englehorn won the 1970 Women's PGA and 11 events in total. She died on October 2, 2022.
It was at this time in 2009 that Tiger Woods, who in 2021 emerged from a near fatal or debilitating car accident, said he was taking a sustained leave of absence from the golf tour because of the need to rehab his marriage due to infidelity that blew up around Thanksgiving. The Associated Press report said the move was “the biggest fallout yet from two shocking weeks filled with allegations of extramarital affairs. ‘I need to focus my attention on being a better husband, father, and person,’ Woods said on his Web site. Woods and his wife, Elin, have been married for five years and have a 2-year-old daughter and a 10-month-old son. The announcement came two weeks after Woods crashed his SUV into a tree outside his Florida home, setting in motion a stunning downfall for the world's No. 1 player who for 13 years rarely made news off the golf course. One woman who said she had a 31-month affair with Woods shared a voice mail that she said Woods left her two nights before his Nov. 27 accident.”
On this date in 1966, Arnold Palmer and partner Jack Nicklaus won the PGA National Team Championship, shooting scores of 63-66-63-64—256. And one of the giant killers in Arnold Palmer’s career was born on this date in 1937 in Cottonwood, Idaho. Don Bies, who won once on the PGA Tour, seven times on the senior and is still living, beat third-seeded Arnie on August 26, 1972, at the Country Club of North Carolina in the first round of the U.S. Professional Match-Play Golf Championship.
On this date in 1984, Australian great Peter Thomson won the 46th Senior PGA Championship at PGA National with a score of two-under 286, three shots ahead of Don January. It was one of nine titles Thomson won on the senior tour that year alone. And one of the most unlikely of major champions, Orville (Sarge) Moody, was born on this date in 1933 in Chickasha, Oklahoma. Moody won the U.S. Open of 1969, going through both stages of qualifying.
in 2001, the Hyundai Team Matches began on this date with the Champions Tour Semifinals of Tom Watson-Andy North defeating Arnold Palmer-Bruce Fleisher, 5 and 3. And Steve Elkington, whose 10 PGA Tour victories were highlighted by a 1995 PGA win, was born on this date in 1962 in Inverell, New South Wales.
Today’s date that will live in infamy does not feel like a golf one but there’s a good anecdote anyway: On this date in 1980, Arnold Palmer defeated Paul Harney in a one-hole, sudden-death playoff with a birdie to win the PGA Seniors' Ch. at Turnberry Isle C.C. And on this date in 1969, Palmer won the Danny Thomas-Diplomat Classic with a final-round 65 and four-round aggregate of 270. He won $25,000. The previous week he had won the inaugural Heritage Golf Classic, giving him back-to-back victories.
On this date in 1981, Miller Barber won the PGA Seniors' Championship at Turnberry Isle by a pair of shots over Arnold Palmer. And on this day in 2003, Arnold Palmer played for the first time in the then titled Office Depot Father-Son Challenge, with grandson Sam Saunders. The two shot 65-67—132, to place 12th.
Don January, who won the regular PGA Championship, on this date in 1982 won the PGA Seniors' Championship, at PGA National, by one shot, edging Julius Boros, who was the 1968 PGA champ. Arnold Palmer finished T-3. And on this date in 1959, Palmer shot a round-3 66 at the Coral Gables Open to post a T-3. In 2004, Arnold and grandson Sam Saunders finished Day 2 of Father-Son Challenge, shooting a second straight 65 for a T-12 finish.
Arnold and Sandra Palmer weren’t related, but they had fun with the idea and played as partners in the Pepsi-Cola Mixed Team Championship. On this date in 1977, they finished four rounds with 69-69-70-67—275 and tied for third, five behind the winners Hollis Stacy and Jerry Pate. Also, Italian golfer Costantino Rocca was born on this date in 1956. A one-time Ryder Cup player, Rocca’s big spotlight moment was nearly winning the Open Championship of 1995 at St. Andrews, losing to John Daly in a four-hole playoff.
On this date in 1961, Arnold Palmer shot a final-round 68 for a four-round total of 278 at West Palm Beach C.C. to finish second by four shots to Gay Brewer in the West Palm Beach Open and earn $1,900. Also, U.S. Open champion of 1911 Mike Brady was born in the Boston area in 1887 and died at age 85 on this date in 1972 in Dunedin, Florida. He won nine PGA type tournaments.